For the “too much” women

This poem
Is for the “too much”
Women
The sexually free
And want to be me
Women
The I love myself
And I’m
Not
Afraid
To say it
Women

This poem
Is for
The women
Who
Laugh loudly
And cry even louder
The women
Who show up
And grow up,
The women
Who tell their
Friends
“I love you”

This poem
Is for
The freedom fighters
And the librarians
The anarchists
And the introverts
The women
Who don’t take shit
From no-one
The women
Who drive fast
And eat slowly
The women
Who savour life
Every
Last
Delicious
Fucking
Drop of it

This poem
Is for
The young women
Finding their place
In the world
For the
Old women
Who dye their hair
And ride motorcycles
Right over
Your expectations
Of how
They should behave

This poem
Is for the women
Who know
That you don’t need
A uterus
To be a woman
The women
Who don’t give time
To negative energy
And cut that shit
Out of their lives
The women
With anxiety
And the women
Who had to see a doctor
Twenty times
Before they were diagnosed

This poem
Is for the women
Who love to travel
The women
Who open doors
And climb
Over barriers
The women
Who are quiet
As a mouse
But when they speak
You know it was
Worth the wait

This poem
Is for the women
Who pole dance
The women who do ballet
And the women who do both
The women
Who love music
Or reading
So much
That they
Get lost in it
For hours

This poem
Is for
The women
Who were called demure
But
Can’t
Take
It
No more
The women
Who want to smash shit up
The women
Who want to stand up
The women
Who want to live it up

This poem
Is for the women
Who speak up
The women
Who call out
Hypocrisy
And mediocrity
The women
Who say
“Can you repeat that?”
When verbally abused
Under the breath
Of someone
Who doesn’t know their privilege
The women
Who show their braveness
And wear their hearts
On their sleeves

This poem
Is for the women
Who cry at adverts
The women
With
So much
Compassion
That they save ants
On the sidewalk
The women
Who protest
And take placards
To the streets
The women
Who don’t miss a beat
And challenge
Sexism

This poem
Is for the women
Who practice
Self-care
By organising
Their calendar
And cooking healthy meals
And getting enough sleep
The women
Who drink to forget
And the women
Who stay sober
To remember
The women
Who take long baths
And longer walks
And the women
Who just want
A
Second
To
Themselves

This poem
Is for the women
With a high IQ
And a high EQ
The women
Whose empathy
Means they feel
Every
Crack
On
This
Precious
Earth
The women
Who remember birthdays
And book appointments
That aren’t for them
Who take on
The emotional labour
Of an army

This poem
Is for the women
Who stay out dancing
Until three o’clock
The up all night women
Living their
Best life women
And giving
Zero fucks
The women
Who are shy
And the women
Who don’t need
A drink
To get on that stage
And sing their
Bloody hearts out

This poem
Is for the women
Who don’t think
That tampons
Are taboo
The women
Who celebrate
Their cycles
And worship
The changing of the moon
The women
Who generate stares
When they walk
Into a room
The women
You suggest to
‘Smile’
But they’d rather frown
The women
Whose generosity
Knows no bounds

This poem
Is for the women
Who teach their children
Their genitals’ proper names
The women
Who aren’t afraid
When their toddler
Shouts “vulva!”
When they’re trying to get changed
The women
Facing racism
Through no fault of their own
The women
Who work three jobs
To give their kids a home

This poem
Is for the rebel women
With, or without, a cause
The women
Who knock on doors
That society
Tried to close
To them
The women
Who smash
Glass ceilings
And explode
Tired patriarchal tropes
Of femininity
Like fireworks
On New Year’s Eve

This poem
Is for the women
Of the resistance
For feminists
And Marxists
And the women
Who just
Don’t give a shit

This poem
Is a whisper
And a shout
An anthem
For the lost
And the found

This poem
Is for me
And for you